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Magnussen admits to mistakes in London

Perth

World champion swimmer James Magnussen admits his life outside the pool caused his downfall at the London Olympics.

But the man dubbed 'The Missile' is confident his new outlook on life will leave him primed for Rio in 2016.

London was meant to be a golden experience for Magnussen, who was the hottest of favourites to win the 100 metres freestyle and win gold in Australia's powerful 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay team.

Instead, Magnussen was forced to settle for silver in his pet individual event after being beaten by one hundredth of a second, while the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay team missed the podium altogether.

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Magnussen's failures capped a disastrous Olympics campaign for Australia's swimming team, which took home just one gold medal.

Swimming Australia has since launched an investigation into the culture of the national swimming team after allegations surfaced of bullying, favouritism and pranks during the failed London campaign.

Magnussen's name has been linked to some of the misbehaviour, and the New South Welshman says he's already learned valuable lessons from what went wrong in London.

"I think more than anything I got wrong (was) my life outside of the pool," Magnussen said in Perth on Wednesday.

"I did everything I needed to do in the lead-up in the pool. (But the results) just showed there were some imbalances.

"I've made a lot of changes in my life and I'm feeling really positive about where I am at the moment. I'm in a good spot mentally.

"I've taken on a mind coach - not necessarily purely for the psychological side of swimming, but for my life in general.

"I've really worked hard on trying to be a more positive and easy-going person. I think it's paid huge dividends both in and out of the pool.

"London was a great opportunity for me to learn what I did wrong. Hopefully that will provide me with a really strong base for the next four years going into Rio."

Magnussen, who is yet to watch a replay of his loss in the 100 metres freestyle final, will be back in action this week when he lines up in the Aquatic Super Series at Challenge Stadium in Perth.

Australia will take on the best swimmers from China and South Africa for a share of $500,000 in prize money, and Magnussen said it was a good chance for the team to put the London flop behind them and form a strong bond.

Magnussen has formed a strong friendship with rising Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic in recent months, but laughed off suggestions it was a full-on 'Bromance'.

"We've both faced some tough times and had a fair bit of pressure on us at different times of our careers," Magnussen said.

"It's good to have someone you can talk to about how they handled the pressure and the media scrutiny."